Resource management schemes are utilized for many types of systems in order to manage allocation of a limited number of resources to service requests for such resources. For example, resource management schemes may be utilized in allocating agents within a telephony call center to service telephone callers, allocating network or computer resources, such as memory and/or processing resources to requesting applications, or even allocating a limited number of tools within a toolbox to mechanics requesting such tools. All resources available within such a system typically do not have uniform attributes (or skill sets). For example, agents within in a telephony call center typically do not have uniform skill sets. For instance, each agent's knowledge of the products being serviced by the call center, sales skills, problem-solving skills, language skills, as well as many other quantifiable skills/attributes, vary from other agents.
Traditional resource management techniques do not attempt to quantify attributes of such resources. Rather, resources are typically identified in binary fashion as to various attributes. More specifically, resources are typically identified as either possessing a particular attribute or not possessing such attribute. For example, resource management schemes for call centers typically provide one or more “pools” of resources, wherein each pool includes a homogeneous collection of resources identified as possessing a particular attribute. For instance, one pool may be provided for agents capable of speaking English, another pool for agents capable of speaking Spanish, and still another pool for agents capable of speaking French. Thus, the resources are identified as either possessing English language skills, or not possessing such skills, possessing Spanish language skills, or not possessing such skills, and possessing French language skills or not possessing such skills, in order to compartmentalize each resource within a given pool. Thereafter, an automatic call distributor (“ACD”), for example, may be utilized to receive callers and route the callers to the appropriate pool of resources, e.g., depending on the language skill of the callers. The callers may be queued to await an available resource from the pool to which the caller is routed on a first come, first served basis, for example. Traditionally, the resources (e.g., agents) within a pool are allocated to a request (e.g., caller) based, for example, on which resource has been idle for the longest period of time.
Some resource management schemes utilized in the prior art allow for overflowing of requests from one pool to another pool. For example, a caller may first be routed to a pool of resources capable of speaking English, and if the caller is not serviced by that pool in a timely fashion, a request to service such caller may also be made to a pool of agents that are capable of speaking both English and Spanish. Furthermore, resource management schemes utilized in the prior art allow for individual agents to be assigned to multiple pools simultaneously. For instance, an agent capable of speaking both English and French may be assigned to both the pool of English speaking agents, as well as the pool of French speaking agents, and such agent may then be allocated by the resource manager to service callers that have been routed to either pool.
An example of one type of resource allocation scheme is disclosed in co-pending and commonly assigned U.S. patent application Ser. No. 09/330,258 filed Jun. 10, 1999, entitled “ALLOCATION OF MULTI-FUNCTION RESOURCES,” the disclosure of which is hereby incorporated herein by reference. The disclosure of ALLOCATION OF MULTI-FUNCTION RESOURCES recognizes that multi-skilled or multi-talented resources exist, which have traditionally been ineffectively utilized in resource management schemes. Traditionally, such multi-skilled resources have been assigned to a heterogeneous pool along with other single and/or multi-skilled resources, for example. Much of the difficulty in the prior art in achieving effective utilization of resources stems from having to work around the inflexibility of serial requests in a unitary queue to a heterogeneous pool in which resources of varying skill sets are mixed together. Accordingly, ALLOCATION OF MULTI-FUNCTION RESOURCES discloses a resource management scheme whereby resources are compartmentalized into multiple homogeneous pools so that the resources in each pool are pure as to functional capability, and a delaying technique is utilized to prioritize requests made to the multiple homogeneous pools to optimize the management of the resources in those pools.
However, prior art resource management schemes utilize only a binary quantification of each skill/attribute for a resource, i.e., the resource is designated as either possessing the skill/attribute or not. For example, a pool of agents within a call center may exist for agents capable of speaking both English and Spanish. Each agent within the call center is either assigned to the pool or it is not. That is, each agent is designated as either possessing the capability of speaking both English and Spanish or not possessing such skill/attribute. However, prior art resource management schemes fail to quantify the skill level of each resource in a manner that more specifically details the extent to which each resource is capable of speaking each language, for example. As a result, resources may not be as effectively managed in prior art schemes, as is possible in a scheme which more specifically quantifies the skills/attributes of each resource. Additionally, prior art resource management schemes utilize only binary quantification of skills/attributes, which provides very limited information in terms of, for example, managing resources, deciding whether to add new resources and the type of new resources to add (e.g., hiring new agents within a call center or adding computer resources to a computer system), and/or decision-making as to upgrading/development of existing resources (e.g., training programs to implement for existing agents within a call center). That is, because the skills/attributes of resources are indicated in binary fashion as either being possessed by a resource or not being possessed by a resource, as opposed to a gradational, quantifiable assessment of such skills/attributes, prior art resource management schemes provide very limited information not only for allocating resources to requests but also for other management purposes. Accordingly, a desire exists in the art for a resource management scheme in which skills/attributes of resources are quantified in order to more effectively allocate such resources to service requests, as well as enable more effective tracking of skills/attributes of resources for a more informed overall management of such resources, e.g., to enable more informed decision-making regarding, as examples, recruiting/obtaining new resources, evaluating existing resources, and training/upgrading existing resources.